Written by: Lindy Lehto
The popular Netflix series Drive to Survive has played a major role in attracting new fans to Formula One. I, for one, found myself binge-watching the entire 4th season in one day when it was released in March. The show is particularly popular in the United States where there will be three races per season from 2023. It was recently announced that Las Vegas will host a night race next year, much to the drivers’ excitement.
The show has also added to the interest in the Australian GP, which is back after a two year absence. Australian Grand Prix Corporation boss Andrew Westacott was quoted as saying: “I’ve had first-hand experience of people I wouldn’t have thought were interested in F1 buying tickets and telling me they’re coming along because of Netflix. It’s been a marketing phenomenon.”
Danny Ric can’t wait to get the weekend under way! 🤩 #AusGP #F1 @danielricciardohttps://t.co/bOBXLGyTRT
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 4, 2022
Drive To Survive might have increased interest in the sport, but some of the drivers have criticized the show for transforming facts to create a certain narrative.
One driver who’s spoken out against the show is Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Max refused to take part in season 4 telling BBC Sport: “I watched two episodes, but I was not very impressed. It’s just not my thing, faking rivalries.” Citing an incident between Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo he went on to say: “Lando and Daniel are two great people I know – they have really great characters and immediately at the second episode it looks like they are not very friendly to each other, and for me that’s not correct and that’s why I’m also not a part of it.”
As for Daniel Ricciardo himself, he seems more tolerant of the show saying: “For sure there’s times where you want a little bit of space or privacy, but I do think if you let them know ‘no cameras in this room’ or something then they’re pretty good with that. It’s been okay.”
When Lando Norris was asked how he feels about the show, he didn’t seem to be phased about the narrative and even defended it. In an interview he said: “You can choose a lot of things which almost go in and don’t go in. I’m happy, I think it’s a cool thing. Especially coming to America, there’s so many people now into F1 just because of watching Drive to Survive. I think I come across on it alright! I hope I don’t come across in a bad way or an idiot or anything. I think they do a good job.”
Another driver who’s reacted positively to the show is Esteban Ocon. He said; “I think Netflix has changed a lot of my life, not just the public stuff but also my career,”…”In difficult times where I didn’t have a seat, that came out and people could actually see that I was desperate to have a drive again, and that probably helped for my career, to come back.”
As for Kimi Raikkonen, in typical Iceman style, he said: “I haven’t watched it so I have no idea what they’ve done”.
Whether the show creates false rivalries or not, one thing’s for sure, this captivating melodrama has given millions of people around the world a brand new passion and it’s not going anywhere.
